


The Lover's Notebook

by Cloudfefe



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, Canon Compliant, Confessions, Confusion, F/M, Feelings, First Love, Fluff, Gen, Long-Distance Relationship, Love, Love Confessions, Lover's Notebook, M/M, Multi, Noctis Lucis Caelum is Bad at Feelings, Other, Pining, Romance, Sleepover Vibes, Sleepovers, Teen Crush, Teen Romance, Teen Years, Teen love, Teenagers, True Love, Umbra gets a mention, Vignette, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, am I using that tag right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 00:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20666210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudfefe/pseuds/Cloudfefe
Summary: “You think it'll work out?” Prompto asks Noct suddenly.“Hm?” He hums lazily in reply, peering over at the floor.“Y’know.” Prompto drops the controller into his lap so he can drum his fingers on his knees. “With that girl you talked about. The one you write to sometimes.”





	The Lover's Notebook

**Author's Note:**

> Prompto takes some pictures, and gets Noct to open up.

“Check it out,” Prompto proclaims, as he drops a fat stack of photos into Noct’s lap. “Hot off the press.”

“Nice,” he replies, setting down his game controller for the freshly-printed collection. He’s sprawled out on the black leather sectional in his new apartment, and he’s been watching the loading bar on the TV screen slowly creep up to 100% since before Prompto got back. Moving out of the Citadel was supposed to teach him independence and responsibility, but Noct’s definitely just excited about being able to order whatever food he wants, dodge the nagging about how much time he spends playing video games, and, hopefully, escape some of the political pressure that’s been getting heavier and heavier the older he gets. Plus, right now, he’s got the chance to chill out with a friend from school like a normal person, and that’s more than he could’ve asked for a few years ago.

Earlier that day, when Noct invited him over, Prompto had declined, saying he needed to spend the day at the studio printing off some photos. So, obviously, Noct offered to let him use the business center at his apartment complex to do it instead. They haven’t been friends for that long, but Noct already trusts Prompto; he’s good on his word, and he’s never tried to take advantage of him. Plus, it's equipped with a state-of-the-art photo printer, so it works out perfectly, right? Of course Prompto protested, with a ‘nah, dude, it’s cool’ and an ‘I should really pay for them myself’. But when Noct mentioned that he’d picked up that new game he knew Prompto was excited about - and the fact that he was hoping for someone to play multiplayer with later - it was suddenly a lot harder for Prompto to come up with excuses to deny the offer without turning into a buzzkill. So, Noct started booting up the game while Prompto ran to use the printer, preparing to enjoy a lazy weekend hanging out with his new friend.

Either way, Prompto’s been more open about showing Noct his work lately, and this time, he seems particularly proud of himself. “Thought they all turned out pretty good,” he brags, plopping down on the other side of the sectional. “I’m a natural, if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah, okay then.” Noct makes sure that Prompto can hear the eyeroll.

While Prompto picks out a controller of his own, Noct flips through the stack of photos and finds that, no, not _ all _of them turned out pretty good. A lot of them did, sure, but a couple are embarrassingly bad. There’s one that he’s pretty sure was meant to be a shot of some kind of animal at the park, but Prompto just ended up taking a blurry picture of a bush; in another one, he’s grinning for a selfie, but the lighting is absolutely atrocious and Noct can barely make him out. He doesn’t say so, though, just smiles to himself as he pages through the other photos with his thumb. It’s only a couple, after all, what Prompto doesn’t know won’t hurt him - then, he comes across one that catches his eye. It’s not the most recent picture in the stack, or a particularly artsy shot, but Noct’s in it: a selfie that Prompto snapped of them together at school, one of the only ones that he’s agreed to be in. He doesn’t even look that good in it - his hair’s a little off, and the button on his uniform jacket’s undone, never mind that he hates any and all pictures of himself on principle - but he’s looking at it for a different reason. It actually gives him an idea.

“Hey,” Noct starts, holding the photo up so Prompto can see it. “You mind if I take this one?”

“Uh… Sure.” He looks up from his controller, not able to hide the surprise on his face or in his voice. Noct’s _ never _asked to take one of his photos for himself before, let alone one that he’s in. “Why?”

Noct figured he’d ask that. “I, uh… Got someone I write back and forth with, now and again,” he answers as casually as possible, hoping Prompto can’t see the flush rising in his cheeks. (If he does, he doesn’t say anything.) “Thought I'd put a picture with it next time.”

“Oh, I getcha,” Prompto replies sociably. “Is it, like, some sort of pen-pal?”

“Nah, not exactly. We never write anything that long, it’s mostly just notes, stickers, little gifts - stuff like that.”

“Whoa, that sounds _ so fun _ !” Of _ course _Prompto perks up at that idea. Sending stickers and presents back and forth with a long-distance familiar is right up his alley. His questions are less casual now, and a lot more eager, like he needs to know every little detail about the arrangement so he can live vicariously through him. “How d’you guys know each other? Have you met in person before?”

“Yeah, when I was a kid,” Noct nods. “She lives pretty far away, though, so we don't see each other anymore.”

“Ooh, ‘she’?” Prompto catches that little detail, his voice suddenly inflecting with a different kind of interest, and he straightens up a bit. “Who's the ‘lucky lady’?”

“It's not like that,” Noct half-scoffs, waving him off, because Prompto over-enunciates the two words and shimmies his shoulders back and forth when he says them.

“You totally wish it was, though,” he teases back in a sing-songy voice. It promptly earns him a high-speed pillow to the face.

“Shut up,” Noct grumbles, tugging his knees up to his chest, but Prompto’s already giggling and sputtering uncontrollably as he swats away the pillow, and Noct can’t help it when he breaks into a smile himself. Even though he knows it’s all in good fun, he can feel his cheeks getting hot again, and his stomach starts doing little flips. He gets these stupid butterflies every time he even _ thinks _about her. It’s embarrassing. What is he, eight years old still?

Either way, he can’t help himself. He’s never talked about his relationship with Luna with anyone like this; he avoids the topic with Gladio, who loves using it as a chance to remind him how much of a loser he is, and he's careful not to bring it up around Ignis or his dad, because he always knows what direction _ that _conversation’s gonna go. Honestly, it feels good to be so genuine about such a huge part of his life, without fear of being judged or reminded of the inevitable - like opening up the floodgates, or something. What do they say about bottling up your feelings again?

Once Prompto’s giggling has subsided, Noct sighs, settling back into his seat. “Still, though,” he says. “I’ve been trying to think of something to send her for a while now. She knows I'm on my own for the most part, so it’ll probably make her happy if I show her that I met someone at school.”

Prompto’s visibly surprised, but not in a bad way; Noct’s never opened up to him like this, and it’s a new thing for both of them. Regardless, Noct’s silently grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone who’ll just listen, accepting him for who he is instead of trying to correct his thinking.

“Well,” Prompto declares after a moment, putting a hand to his heart so he can be extra-theatrical about it. “I'm honored to be that person.”

Noct smirks at him, setting the photo off to the side for later. “Yeah, whatever. Wanna order pizza?”

######  _ \-- _

Later that evening, the two haven’t moved much; both of them are feeling slightly comatose now, their bellies full of heavy grease and cheese-covered carbs. The evidence of their takeout order lies before them on the coffee table: two half-drunk bottles of soda and an empty pizza box, the only surviving remnants being a couple despondent pieces of crust and some sludgy bits of cheese still stuck to the cardboard. Noct himself looks like a sludgy bit still stuck to the couch, holding his phone lackadaisically above his head so he can tap away at something on the screen; swiping sounds and tinny, 8-bit music trumpet through the speakers. He’s got that glazed-over look that he gets when he’s spaced out, like he’s trying to sleep while he’s still awake or something. Prompto’s moved to sit on the floor in front of him, and he’s leaning up against the sectional, controller in hand as he flips mindlessly through the games on the console. Unlike Noct, though, his eyes are alight with something, his expression shifting the way it does when someone’s mulling over several possibilities.

“You think it'll work out?” he asks Noct suddenly.

“Hm?” He hums lazily in reply, peering over at the floor.

“Y’know.” Prompto drops the controller into his lap so he can drum his fingers on his knees. “With that girl you talked about. The one you write to sometimes?”

Oh. Noct sighs, setting his phone down so he can stare thoughtfully up at the ceiling. Honestly, he broods over that idea a lot more than he wants to. Every time he lets his imagination get away from him, he has to let himself down again, reminding himself that it probably won’t happen - not when their countries are locked in a war that’s not seeing an end.

“Can't say. Depends what happens, with the Niffs and everything,” Noct finally answers. He shifts uncomfortably in his spot, his voice going a little quiet. “Whole thing’s kinda got my life laid out already.”

Prompto makes a discontented sound. “That sounds rough,” he says, as sympathetically as he can manage.

Noct realizes that Prompto can’t understand it for himself - knowing that your life isn’t yours to live, because your birth dropped you into the center of a mess of selfish, greedy politics - but he still appreciates the effort. “Eh,” he shrugs back. “It is what it is. You learn to deal with it.”

“Hey,” Prompto smiles sincerely, “if it does work out, she’d be lucky to have you.”

“Honestly, she's _ way _too good for me,” Noct laughs, shaking his head. “Even if we could get together someday, I'd probably screw it up royally.”

Part of the reason Noct tells himself that is to make himself feel better about his uncertain future, and how it doesn’t leave a lot of room for dreams like that to come to fruition. The truth is, though, that it’s almost _ laughable _how out of his league she is, and he’s painfully aware of that fact. Gladio makes sure to point it out whenever she comes up, too, not that Noct needs the reminder. He’s heard her on the radio before, seen pictures and videos; on top of being drop-dead gorgeous, she’s dignified, elegant, gracious, wise, selfless…everything he’s not. Still, he’s had about a million fantasies about how romantic it’d be - how he’d make all the right moves, say everything perfectly, and be the classic, super-suave Prince Charming who sweeps her off her feet. In reality, though, he’d probably regress into a nervous, bumbling idiot the minute she looked at him, and end up making a total fool out of himself.

Nevertheless, Prompto’s quick to reassure him of otherwise. “No way, dude,” he breathes, twisting around to look at his friend. “It’s obvious how much you like her just by how you talk about it. That’s, like, true love, and that’s all you need, right? You’ve got the charm, and the looks, and you’re smart, too. Plus you’re already friends - I mean, you’re sending _ gifts _back and forth, for crying out loud!”

Noct breaks out into a laugh, rolling his eyes at Prompto’s enthusiasm, but he has to do his best not to catch it. “It’s basically a fairytale love story waiting to happen,” Prompto continues, gesturing widely at the overtly poetic nature of the situation. “Everything’ll fall into place, I know it.”

Noct can’t stave off the grin that creeps across his face at that. The ego boost was good, sure, but there’s something else in what Prompto said that makes his chest feel a little warmer: hope. The hope that they might meet again someday, that they won’t have to relegate their communication exclusively to secret notes to avoid the empire’s watchful eye - that they could spend the rest of their lives together. Not that Prompto realizes anything about how incredible Luna is, or the nature of their relationship, or the intricacies of the current political situation, but the amount of eagerness and wholehearted reassurance in his voice is enough to make anyone forget about all that. It’s still a stupid fantasy, but… It’s nice to think about, the two of them running off together, scorning the empire in the name of true love.

“Hope you’re right,” Noct says, with as much cynicism he can muster despite himself.

“I’m an _ artist _ ,” Prompto quips back, jabbing him in the shoulder with his finger. “I’m _ always _right when it comes to love.”

“Yeah,” Noct nods, still smiling a little stupidly. “I’ll buy it. Thanks, Prompto.”

Later, Noct’s stuffing the notebook, complete with the attached photo, into Umbra’s bag, and he already can’t wait to hear back from her.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the photo seen by Luna in the sixth episode of the Brotherhood anime: https://youtu.be/OtvseFL1eSA?t=3842  
To be honest, I never bought the whole “Lover’s Notebook” thing until I saw that scene. It's so sweet to see her reminiscing over everything that they've sent back and forth to each other over the years. All the other stickers and notes in it too, ugh I mean look at the way she smiles at that picture it’s so f’in’ cute I can't even handle it. ;-;  
Also, y’all know I had to make a slight at some of the shitty pictures Prompto’s AI likes to take in-game lmao.  
Hope you enjoyed!


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